Office cabinet

Abstract

An office cabinet is provided with steel end panels made by press forming and shaped to mimic chipboard slab ends with rounded corners. The end members are hollow and provided on their inner faces with arrays of apertures for mounting shelves and other fittings within the cabinet.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Chipboard, a wood-based material, is frequently used in manufacturing office fittings and furniture. For this use the chipboard is provided with a decorative surface finish, for example wood vineer or plastic sheeting while separate edge lippings may be employed to cover the edges of the board. In particular, chipboard panels with rounded corners may be used to form the sides or ends of cupboards or desks and the edges of these panels may be deliberately left exposed giving a distinctive "slab-end" appearance. Board panels with rounded corners can be employed to give a distinctive design appearance.

Although chipboard is the only material used for slab-ends to fairly large office cabinets where a substantial load carrying capability is required, it is somewhat unsatisfactory in this application. With such cabinets, chipboard is liable to bow outwardly, it is difficult to provide satisfactory concealed fastenings into the chipboard, and the large panels required would add substantially to the weight of such cabinets. Office cabinets are nowadays often required to be able to receive internal fittings at a variety of positions. This cannot readily be achieved with a chipboard end panel, except by fitting a steel inner panel spaced inwardly from the inside face of a chipboard end panel and thereby increasing the bulk of the cabinet.

Steel has been used for cabinet ends, but it has then been customary for the cabinets to have right angled corners, and the slab end effect has not been sought.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to utilise end panels made from sheet metal to avoid or ameliorate the above mentioned disadvantages of chipboard end panels while forming the end panels in such a way as to mimic the appearance which can be achieved with chipboard. By means of the invention it becomes impossible to design an office cabinet so as to have continuity of styling with other office furniture and fittings which make extensive use of slab ends formed from chipboard panels with rounded corners.

In this invention an end member of a cabinet is formed from sheet metal which is shaped so as to provide a plane face which is generally rectangular but having rounded corners, while also providing edge faces around at least part of the periphery of the plane face which curve around the rounded corners so that the end member mimics the shape of a board with rounded corners. These edge faces should of course be substantially narrower than the plane face but substantially wider than the thickness of the metal sheet.

Preferably the end member is formed from a sheet metal blank having an area corresponding to the plane face, portions which will form the edge faces contiguous with this along the straight edges between the rounded corners, and continuations of the edge forming portions projecting beyond the limits of the straight edges, which form the curving portions of edge face which extend around the rounded corners.

It is then preferable that fixing flanges, parallel to the plane face, but spaced from it, extend inwardly from the edge faces.

A cabinet embodying this invention may be constructed as a set of parts suitable for shipment in KD (knocked-down) form, and subsequent assembly by riveting.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cabinet embodying this invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the cabinet;

FIG. 3 shows the blank for the outer section of an end member;

FIG. 4 shows the outer section of the left hand end from the inside after forming it to shape from the blank of FIG. 3, and welding on further parts;

FIG. 5 is a vertical section through the cabinet on line V--V of FIG. 2, and provides a corresponding view to FIG. 4, after assembly;

FIG. 6 is a section on the line VI--VI of FIGS. 4 and 5; and

FIG. 7 is a section on the line VII--VII of FIGS. 4 and 5.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

As can be seen from FIG. 1, the cabinet is designed so that its end members 12 appear to be separate slabs between which extend the top 14, base 16 and back of the cabinet. The front of the cabinet is closed by a roller shutter 18, also known as a tambour, with a handle 20 at its bottom end.

Each end member 12 consists of a press-formed outer section 21 and a planar inner panel 22. Each outer section has a plane face 24, which forms a side face of the cabinet, surrounded by edge faces 26. The face 24 is generally rectangular with all four corners radiussed. The edge faces extend along the whole periphery of the face 24 and curve smoothly around the radiussed corners so that the edge faces 26' at the front and back merge smoothly into the edge faces 26" at top and bottom.

The outer section 21 of each end member is formed from a sheet steel blank as shown in FIG. 3. The outline of this includes arcs 30 which will become the radiussed corners of face 24. On FIG. 3 the lines along which the blank is eventually bent are shown chain dotted, but until the blank is bent these lines are not visible in any way. They will be referred to for convenience of description.

The area which forms the plane face 24 is bounded by the arcs 30 and lines 32,34. There are extensions from this area contiguous with it along the whole of the lines 34 and almost all of the lines 32. The outline of the blank includes very short sections 32' of the lines 32, though. The edge faces 26 are formed by the areas 36 between the lines 32,34 and the respective parallel lines 42,44. Projections 46 continue beyond the junctions of the lines 34 and the arcs 30. These form the curving edge faces at the radiussed corners of the face 24.

A number of holes are made in outer areas 38,39 of the blank before it is formed to shape. These holes are used for rivetting at a later stage. The blank is formed to shape by conventional press forming. However, at least some of the shaping could be effected by roll-forming. When press forming is the only shaping operation, it accomplishes the following steps, not necessarily in the same order:

(i) the edge forming areas 36 are turned at right angles to the area forming the face 24 so that the lines 32,34 become the horizontal and vertical straight edges of the plane face 24;

(ii) the projections 46 are curved so that each forms a quarter cylinder of substantially the same radius as the arcs 30 and thus their edges 48 adjoin these arcs 30. The tips of the projections 46 remain straight, adjoining the edge sections 32', so that the edges 50 and 52 abut;

(iii) the areas 38,39 are taken through a further right angle about the lines 42,44 to form marginal flanges spaced from the face 24 but parallel to it; and

(iv) the area 56 is turned through yet another right angle around the line 58 so as to return towards the inside of the face 24.

The outer sections 21 of the left and right hand end members are of course mirror images of each other. However, both can be formed from identical blanks by welding in opposite directions. After forming to shape, abutting edges 50 and 52 may be welded together, and the edges 48 welded to the arcs 30.

A stiffener 60 is spot welded to the inside of each outer section 21. This stiffener is made by bending sheet steel to a stepped shape seen in section in FIG. 7. An upright support member 62, again bent from sheet steel, is welded to the inside of the face 24. Its shape is seen in section in FIG. 6. It stiffens the end member, and also serves, with the return 56, to define a slot 64 which guides the side edge of the roller shutter 18.

The top 14, back panel 66 and base 16 are seen in section in FIG. 5. All are made by bending sheet steel. The top 14 is made to curve smoothly round into an upper front portion 68 and an upper rear portion 70. Flanges 72 are formed at its ends. The back panel 66 is a flat rectangular panel with flanges 74 around its edges. The base 16 is a channel section with a flange 76 across each end. These parts, notably their flanges 72,74 and 76, are all provided with holes for rivetting.

When all the parts have been formed to shape they are painted. The cabinet is assembled by rivetting after painting its various parts. In consequence the cabinet can be shipped to a distributor in knocked down form, and assembled by him.

The various parts of the cabinet are held together by rivets as follows:

Rivets 80 through holes 80' hold the flanges 72 of the top onto flanges 38,39 of each end's outer section 21. Rivets 82 through holes 82' hold the flanges 76 to the stiffeners 60 welded to the ends. Rivets 84 secure the top flange 74 of the back panel to a horizontal flange inturned from the upper rear portion 70, and rivets 86 secure the bottom flange 74 to the base 16. The back panel 66 is set in slightly from the rear of the cabinet giving a recess in which a pinboard can be held. The rivets 84 and 86 also secure a pair of angle section members 88 to hold the top and bottom of such a pinboard.

Rivets 90 through holes 90' hold the inner panel of each end to the back flange 38 of its outer section 21, with a vertical flange 74 of the back panel sandwiched between. Rivets 92 through holes 92' hold the inner panel of each end to the upright support member 62 welded to the outer section 21.

Each of the inner panels is punched before assembly to form two upright columns of closely spaced slots 93 which can be used to attach shelves and other fittings in a multitude of different positions. Suitable fittings are the Flexiform range from Flexiform, Leeds, England.

The roller shutter is of conventional construction. It passes over a guide roller 94, and winds onto a spring loaded roller 96. Both rollers are carried on brackets 98 welded onto the outer sections of the end members.

The "slab-ended" appearance of the cabinet can be accentuated by use of a paint finish on the end members which contrasts with that on the top, back and base. For example a dark, matt paint on the ends and a light coloured gloss elsewhere.

The cabinet described can be included in a range of office furniture which employs slab-ends formed from chipboard panels with radiussed corners and surfaced with plastics laminate on both face and edges. Unity of design styling is preserved, yet as compared with a cabinet with chipboard end members the following advantages accrue:

(1) lighter weight;

(2) the rivets give secure fastening of the end members, without penetrating the faces 24. (Equally concealed fastenings into chipboard tend to be less secure and/or more bulky and do not readily permit shipment in knocked down condition.)

(3) greater load bearing capacity and avoidance of the bowing encountered with chipboard supporting a heavy load.

(4) an undesirable increase of thickness of the ends is avoided in that the slots 93 for fittings could not be provided in chipboard, and would require provision of a slotted panel spaced inwardly from a chipboard end

(5) the hollow interior of the steel end members can accomodate a guide slot for a side of the roller shutter.

By way of example only, a cabinet embodying this invention may have an overall height of either 1575 or 2030 mm and a front to back width of 500 mm. The edge faces can then be 19 mm across and the corners can have a radius of 12 mm (so that the radius of the corners is more than half the width of the edge faces).

All the parts of the cabinet can be made from steel sheet approximately 1 mm thick. Thus the width of the edge faces 26 is more than ten times the thickness of the steel sheet, and the width of the plane face is more than ten times (indeed more than twenty times) the width of the plane face 24.

Claims

1. In an office cabinet comprising a pair of end members each formed from a planar sheet metal blank bent so as to provide a plane face and edge faces extending around at least part of the periphery of the plane face, which edge faces are substantially wider than the thickness of the sheet metal and substantially narrower than the width of the plane face, the plane face forming a generally rectangular outer side surface of the cabinet and the edge faces adjoining said side face at least at the front, top and rear of the cabinet,

the improvement wherein said sheet metal blank includes:

a generally rectangular area which corresponds to said plane face and has at least some rounded corners and straight edges extending from said corners,

edge forming portions contiguous with said area along said straight edges,

continuation of at least some of said edge forming portions projecting beyond the junction of one of said straight edges with said rounded corner, and

the blank being bent along said edges to turn said edge forming portions perpendicularly to the plane face and said continuations of said edge forming portions being curved to adjoin the rounded corners of the plane face such that the edge face formed by said edge forming portions and the continuations thereof curves around said rounded corners whereby the end member mimics the shape of a board with rounded corners.

2. A set of parts for assembly to form an office cabinet according to claim 1, said parts comprising

a pair of end member outer sections each formed from the planar sheet metal blank;

a pair of inner panels each having means for the attachment of internal fittings within the cabinet;

a base, a top and a back, all including flanges to be disposed vertically at each side of the assembled cabinet.

3. An office cabinet according to claim 1 further comprising marginal flanges extending inwardly from said edge faces parallel to said plane face and spaced therefrom.

4. An office cabinet according to claim 1 wherein each end member comprises an outer section providing said plane face and edge faces and further comprises an inner panel extending parallel to said plane face and spaced therefrom.

5. An office cabinet according to claim 4 wherein said inner panel is provided with means for the attachment of internal fittings within said cabinet.

6. An office cabinet according to claim 5 wherein said means for attachment of internal fittings comprises an array of apertures.

7. An office cabinet according to claim 1 wherein said end members have a paint finish contrasting with a paint finish on other parts of said cabinet.

8. An office cabinet according to claim 1 wherein each end member comprises

an outer section providing said plane face and said edge faces around the periphery thereof, said outer section also comprising marginal portions extending inwardly from said edge faces and spaced from said plane face;

an inner panel spaced inwardly from said plane face and having means for the attachment of internal fittings within the cabinet;

a base, a top and a back, all having vertical flanges at each side of the cabinet, the said vertical flanges of said top and back being attached to said marginal portions of said outer sections, said inner panels and the vertical flanges of said base also being attached to said outer sections of the end members.

9. An office cabinet according to claim 8 wherein each outer section of an end member has additional parts welded thereto, to one of which a said vertical flange of said base is attached.